This past Saturday both my kids, Lexi and Jackson, began their 2011 Skating Lessons at the local recreation centre. We spent Friday trying on skates, getting them sharpened and convincing Jackson that wearing his helmet was COOL!!
Lexi took skating lessons in the Spring of last year. She had really taken to it at the time, but hadn’t been on skates in eight months. Jackson had only put skates on once ever (and it didn’t please him very much, to say the least), so we weren’t sure how the lessons were going to go.
Julie and I sat intently, quietly hoping that things would go well. Both kids struggled, Jackson throughout his lesson, and Lexi at first as she worked the rust off her early skills (she really did improve by the end). I cringed as I watched them take numerous falls and slips, some of them looked pretty hard. However, I was filled with an immense sense of pride as I watched after each fall, both of them get up (or at least try to) and try again. There was no crying, no complaining to the coach, no sitting on the ice and giving up. The first thing I asked them after the lesson as they came off the ice, their snow pants covered with snow and ice, was “Did you have fun?!?. Both of them responded with a resounding and joyful “YES!” despite the adversity they both faced.
Later in the day I was talking to both kids about their skating experiences again, just to see if they had changed their opinions of the excitement they had just after they came off the ice. I was once again amazed that they both had the same level of excitement and interest. As Lexi and I continued to talk, she mentioned that she knew that she fell down a lot at the start of her lesson. I told her that she had made me proud by how quickly she got back up each time she fell. Although she smiled when I said it, I think some of the deeper meaning was lost but I did tell her that “It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, as long as you get back up just one more time!”
The day’s events got me thinking, when do we as adults create a phobia of failure or “falling down” or “looking silly” that often times halts our growth, that keeps us from trying new things, or in many cases from casing our dreams. Here I have two young kids who were willing to get on an ice rink in front of hundreds of strangers, both adults and kids, and fall down over and over (fail, temporarily) and just get back up and try again. How many adults would willingly and joyfully put themselves in that kind of situation. How many of us slink away into a corner after a failure or set back. How many people are “once bitten, twice shy” when it comes to trying something new or taking a risk. As leaders, how many of us punish members of our teams when they “fall down” on the job.
I am 100% sure that after a few lessons both kids will have improved immensely at their skating, in no small way because of their determination to “get back up”. How much more could we achieve as individuals if we were willing to have such dogged determination to achieving our goals. How much innovation could we create on our teams if we encouraged people to “fall down” and “get back up again”.
Next time you fall down (literally or figuratively), I hope you remember this story and follow Lexi’s and Jackson’s examples and GET BACK UP!
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Bill Roth
“The Success Junkie”
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